"This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would
follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

FINAL LESSONS

PURPOSE: To receive the gift that God promised His Son. To dedicate your
mind to following in the way of truth and leading your brothers there. To
forgive the world and so hasten the ending of the dream that God appointed.

MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: as long as needed

Use the words only at the beginning, and only to remind yourself you
are trying to go beyond them.

Leave the rest of the lesson to the Holy Spirit. Put Him in charge.
Whatever you need, be it a thought, a word, or stillness and tranquility, He
will give it to you.

HOURLY REMEMBRANCE

No specific instructions

FREQUENT REMINDER

No specific instructions

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION

No specific instructions

COMMENTARY

(I will be doing commentary on the "Final Lessons" and "Epilogue"
sections intermingled with the daily commentary for the next five days, since
the actual lesson is the same for all five days.)

So we come to the final lessons of the year. Today and for the next four days we
have the same lesson, which gives us the very simple directions by which we are
to live the rest of our lives. The intent of the Workbook is to aid us in
forming the very habit portrayed by this lesson: To give each instant to the
Holy Spirit, asking Him to be in charge, committing ourselves to follow His
direction in everything, knowing that He always leads us towards peace.

The Introduction to this simple lesson ("Final Lessons") is one that
we would do well to read each day for these five days. Each day as we read this
over, along with the lesson, we follow the reading with a time of quiet in which
we seek a holy instant of communion with our Father and His Voice.

We are not seeking for words; "Our final lessons will be left as free of
words as possible. We use them but at the beginning of our practicing, and only
to remind us that we seek to go beyond them. Let us turn to Him Who leads the
way and makes our footsteps sure." What we are seeking is that communion
with Him. We open ourselves to the experience of peace. We give our lives to
Him, asking to be directed in "all our thoughts to serve the function of
salvation." We are here to remember God through forgiving our brothers,
through sharing His reality with everyone.

We are as free of words as possible in these times of practice, and yet "...if
I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will
He also give" (W-pII.361.1:1-2). He will give whatever I need. Sometimes
there will be words; sometimes, thoughts. And sometimes, nothing but "stillness
and a tranquil, open mind" (1:3). We present ourselves to Him and wait for
Him to give whatever we need. We do not tell Him what we need; we leave that to
Him.

Each day we can begin like this. And during the day, often, whenever we can, we
stop and once again renew the set of our minds, our determination to make no
decision by ourselves, without Him. These lessons have been "a beginning,
not an end" (Epilogue, 1:1). They have trained us in a practice that is
meant to continue for the rest of our lives until our entire life has become a
holy instant.

Whenever you can today, remember these words and repeat them: "This holy
instant would I give to You." He will never fail to hear us.